State-of-the-art surfactants as biomedical game changers: unlocking their potential in drug delivery, diagnostics, and tissue engineering

Abstract

This review presents a comprehensive analysis of surfactant-based medicinal formulations, highlighting both their advantages and disadvantages. Surfactants enhance drug solubility, enhance targeted delivery, and facilitate controlled release of drugs. Their antimicrobial action is a result of their ability to disrupt microbial membranes, and their application in the delivery of genes and proteins involves stabilizing lipid nanoparticles for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR). Surfactants also assist in biomedical imaging and theranostics by enhancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast, fluorescence bioimaging, and cancer diagnosis. In tissue engineering, they assist in the manufacturing of scaffolds and coatings of biomaterials. In spite of their broad application, cytotoxicity concerns, environmental impact, and regulatory constraints bar clinical use. Biodegradable biosurfactants, stimuli-responsive intelligent surfactants, and AI-driven formulation design are areas that future studies can focus on to enhance safety and effectiveness in current healthcare applications.